Men and women buy gold, silver, and precious jewels for the ones they love in order to show their affection and appreciation for the relationship. This helps dress up their mates and make a nice impression when others see these adornments but it can also be a symbol of a successful relationship, such as an anniversary present. Likewise historically, people who loved their homes bought beautiful house jewelry to spruce them up and make them more appealing. There is an interesting correlation between people jewelry and the antique house jewelry that once adorned the mansions and the finer homes of our upper class. Many of those charming accessories are resurfacing and being brought back into use again. This is "real estate jewelry" in its truest form, but not the kind you wear on your body.

Imagine entering a home of the rich in the late 1800’s and seeing the rich woods and tapestries that impressed most of their visitors. While those were the equivalent of the clothes we wear, the lighting fixtures, door hardware, and incredible stained glass windows were the jewels that would really catch the eye. There are literally faceted elements known as jewels in the stained glass as well as elaborate beveling that would break the sunlight up into its pure purples, greens, and other colors of the rainbow, then cast them across the rooms energizing the air in the process. At night the homes would glow through the rich colors in the stained glass windows so that passers by could see how much these people loved their homes by how they had adorned them to prove it.

The use of electricity was still in its early stages so often the fixtures also had gas ported to them, with beautiful glass globes to accentuate the lighting. Quality brass is the equivalent of gold for a home and this was the preferred metal for expensive lighting, but there were still fixtures that were silver-plated and even gold plated. Amazingly, though they have been rewired several times by now, many of those fixtures are still around today. Likewise, the glass on the lighting included incredible works of art, being made by the likes of Tiffany, Stueben, and Quezal whose names still bring big money whenever you can find pieces of their work in any of its forms. Like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds, these forms of house jewels will still dazzle guests to this day.

Best of all were the homes most accessible and commonly handled jewels known as door hardware or doorknobs. While the new knobs of today are all to common in their shared design and lack of uniqueness, that was certainly not the case in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Then there were hundreds, in fact nearly three thousand designs of unique and gorgeous door hardware to choose from, made by artists and craftsmen whose pride and quality can not be matched today. Not limited to porcelain and brass, there were also cut leaded crystal with facets like diamonds and beautiful controlled bubble glass knobs that filled one with wonder at how they must have been created. There were also rich deep colors like ruby red made from glass with gold added to the molten mix before it was shaped and cooled, or emerald greens, sapphire blues, and topaz ambers. While these jewels were the equivalents of precious stones in the home, there was also the ornate compression cast brass and bronze doorknobs of the times that were as beautiful as any precious metal jewelry one could wear. From figures of lions, dragons, angels, eagles, Indians, and famous people, to mountain scenes, flowers, and butterflies, the hardware was incredible. Besides the realistic figural images of life, there were the architectural patterns from the Greek, Romanesque, Gothic, French as well as Italian, German, and English Renaissance, to mention only a few. The designs ranged from simple asymmetric motifs to complex eightfold patterns as well as emblematic and fraternal designs such as the owner’s initials, or the family crest found in the Busch Mansion. Finally, if the patterns weren’t enough, there were also many shapes to choose from ranging from ovals, barrels, squares, hexagons, domed tops, filigreed, and levers to name just a few.

Amazingly, in spite of the tens of thousands of doorknobs turned into the government for the brass drives during the Great World War many of these jewels survived. Still, these samples of home jewelry are certainly hard to find and only the largest of architectural antique stores will have much of a selection to choose from. "Real Estate Jewelry" is once again being given as gifts to homes across the country where they will be shown off and cherished like they deserve to be, as jewels and heirlooms that symbolize a pride in craftsmanship and depth of love for one’s home that has nearly been lost in the modern world. Not only does this help preserve a bit of our history, I guarantee it will impress your guests and add to your home’s self esteem.

The author, Brad Kittel, has won numerous revitalization awards for his work on old homes in Austin before retiring from Real Estate Brokerage in Austin and opening what has become the largest Architectural Antique and Vintage lumber stores in Texas. They stock the widest selection of antique door hardware available for sale in Texas. For more information call 830-672-2428 or see their website at www.discoverys.net